Health Issues Contribute to Rosie O’Donnell’s ‘The View’ Exit

Since the original announcement that Rosie O’Donnell was exiting The View, new information has emerged that indicates that health issues also contributed to her decision to step away from the show. In fact, the co-host has been ordered by her doctor to take a break from the show in light of previous health problems and current stress.

Part of the reason that the doctor is ordering O’Donnell to take a step back from the show, stems from the heart attack she suffered in 2012 that was nearly fatal. Since then her doctor has kept a constant eye on her health, and how well she takes care of herself. On Saturday, O’Donnell spoke to People Magazine while at the premier of the new documentary Rosie O’Donnell: A Heartfelt Standup. She told the magazine that her doctor had noticed that since her return to the show, there had been an upturn in her numbers. Right before the holidays things actually got a bit worse and her doctor expressed concern for her health. In fact, she apparently told the co-host that her stress levels were too much to deal with. O’Donnell pointed out that when her doctor tells her to do something then it is important that she listen, especially since her doctor has told her they are not sure how she is still alive.

O’Donnell said that this was the point in which she decided that she needed to eliminate as much of the excess stress in her life as possible. With the personal issues contributing to her stress levels, five children with four of them being teenagers, plus the separation from her second wife, she needed to find a way to minimize strain in her life in whatever way possible. In an effort to prevent further health issues, O’Donnell made the decision to exit The View since that was another contributing factor to her increase in stress levels. As the co-host pointed out to the magazine, right now she and her wife are dealing with problems and at this time those things cannot be fixed quickly. Instead, she needed to focus on the things she could fix such as the stress associated with her work on The View.

Fellow co-hosts, Nicolle Wallace, Rosie Perez and Whoopi Goldberg did not have much to say when they were told about the situation at first. Part of this stems from the fact that O’Donnell did not fill them in on what was happening. In fact, they were not told until the news was released on Friday, a day when the show is not actually taped. Since the news went public, all of the co-hosts have reached out in an effort to express their concern. This includes Goldberg, who is said to have tension with O’Donnell.

Since the news was released on Friday that she would be exiting The View, followed by reports about health issues contributing to this departure, O’Donnell has said that she has received a lot of support. She told People that she had heard from everyone, and that they all understand what she is going through and do not want her doing anything to adversely effect her health. She said that sometimes things just do not work out in the manner we expect them to.